As we enter Round 6 of the 2013 Currie Cup, WP is setting the pace at the top of the Log, with 16 Log points. The Griquas find themselves in last place with 8 Log points.

The Blue Bulls last week showed us that they are still a force in the competition, even having lost many players to Europe, injury and to the Springboks. It is stil a close nit affair as the difference between current leaders WP and 5th place Blue Bulls is only 6 Log points. So, a defeat for WP could see them fall down quite a few spots. The Griquas will also need to find winning ways soon, if they were to challenge for a semi final, a defeat this weekend could put this totally out of reach and probably see them end in last place.

Here’s a Preview of the weekend’s matches:

 Match 1

Free State Cheetahs vs Golden Lions

Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

13 Sept 2013

k/o – 19:10

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Pieter ‘Lappies’ Labuschagné, 6 Johannes ‘Boom’ Prinsloo (Captain), 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Teboho Mohoje, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Hercu Liebenberg, 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Freddie Ngoza, 19 Tertius Daniller, 20 Kevin Luiters, 21 Willie du Plessis, 22 Piet Lindeque.

MTN Golden Lions: 1 CJ van der Linde, 2 Willie Wepener, 3 Bees Roux, 4 Ruan Venter, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Warwick Tecklenberg, 7 Derek Minnie (Captain), 8 Willie Britz, 9 Tian Meyer, 10 Elton Jantjies, 11 Antony Volmink, 12 Dylan Des Fountain, 13 Robert De Bruyn, 14 Andries Coetzee, 15 Marnitz Boshoff
Replacements: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Hugo Kloppers, 19 Jaco Kriel, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Deon Helberg, 22 Ruhan Nel.

From 2010 to prior this year, these sides met 6 times and the Free State Cheetahs remained winless against the Golden Lions. There was however 1 draw. In their first encounter this year the Free State Cheetahs managed a 1 point win. With the competition so close, neither team can afford a loss. It would seem that the Golden Lions have the edge in this one and should take it by an 8 point margin, with a score close to 33-24.

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 Match 2

Griquas vs Sharks

GWK Park, Kimberley

14 Sept 2013

k/o – 15:00

Griquas: 15 PJ Vermeulen, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 JP Nel, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Burger Schoeman, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Victor Kruger, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Ryno Barnes (Captain), 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Matt Dobson, 17 Brummer Badenhorst, 18 Patrick O’Brien, 19 RJ Liebenberg, 20 Jacques Coetzee, 21 Du Randt Gerber, 22 Gouws Prinsloo.

Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Sizo Maseko, 13 Louis Ludik, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Butch James, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Jacques Botes (Captain), 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Edwin Hewitt, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Danie Mienie
Replacements: 16 Monde Hadebe, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Peet Marais, 19 Justin Downey, 20 Cobus Reinach, 21 Fred Zeilinga, 22. Jaco van Tonder.

These teams have met 6 times since 2010, with both teams having won 3 matches. The Griquas beat the Sharks this year by a two point margin in Durban. This is also a make or break game for the Griquas, but a defeat for the Sharks can be just as devastating, as it could see them battle for a semi final spot at home. The Sharks seem the likely team to edge this one, but once again it is the Griquas in Kimberley, where they are hard as nails. If history is correct the Sharks should take this one with a 6 point margin and a score close to 32-26.

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 Match 3

Blue Bulls vs Western Province

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

14 Sept 2013

k/o – 17:05

Blue Bulls: 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 waylon Murray, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Akona Ndungane, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Jono Ross (Captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Wiaan Liebenberg, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Marcel van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Dean Greyling, 18 David Bullbring, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Lohan Jacobs, 21 William Small-Smith, 22 Clayton Blommetjies.

Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt 5 De Kock Steenkamp (Captain), 4 Taz Fuzani, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Michael Willemse, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Gerbrandt Grobler, 19 Rohan Kitshoff, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Gary van Aswegen, 22 Michael van der Spuy.

This is always a clash to watch. These teams always give 190% when playing one another. These teams have met 6 times since 2010, both teams having  won 3 a piece. The Blue Bulls last week put themselves back into contention in the competition. Will this be enough encouragement to tople current log leaders WP? The teams played to a draw n Cape town early in this year’s competition and it would seem that both teams are on form. It would suggest in history that WP have a slight edge over the Bulls and should take this one by a 7 point margin with a score close to 26-19.